Lessons with Cookies
by Dancho
Summary: One of four prologs to 'What Happened to Normal'. This oneshot focuses on Rin and Sesshomaru before WHtN. Shortish, sweet, gettogether oneshot.


Lessons with Cookies

'That girl is staring at me again. I don't know why, but I wish she would stop. Honestly, humans are so infuriating. They make no sense. Sometimes, I wonder if some of those radicals, the ones that live up in the mountains, don't have the right idea. Perhaps the world would be better if we, us demons I mean, simply slaughtered all the humans like the pigs they are. But, no, I have to be born the son of the demon lord of the west. Even thinking about joining on of those groups would almost decimate what's left of our family's honor. It's bad enough that Inuyasha is a half-breed…'

"Excuse me?" A small voice asked, and I looked up from my notes to see the girl was standing beside me. She put a small box down on my desk and I subtly took a sniff. Sushi and high quality sushi too, if my nose is any judge. "It's sushi."

"I'm not hungry." I reply, turning my head so I can ignore her and the sushi.

"Oh. Well then." The girl blushed as she sat down next to me and took another box out of her bag. I sniff again and decide that she must have bought herself some sushi as well.

'Funny. Her sushi doesn't seem to be quite the quality that mine is.'

I sneak a glance in her direction, and notice that she has already finished her food. Pushing the sushi box off my notes, I roll my eyes. I was positive humans were stark raving mad.

And this girl must have been the maddest. Quite literally too. Rumor had it that she had been confined to a mental institute for a number of years because of some strange phobia. Not that I was watching her or anything, and not that I cared, but I had also noticed that she seemed to close herself off from the other people in the class. She participated in class, but even then she rarely spoke and it was never about anything other than the class subject, which was finance. 

I let out a sigh and pushed my notes together. The teacher still wasn't there and I just wanted to get the test over with. I looked over at the girl who was still sitting next to me. She was staring at me.

"What?"

"You didn't eat the food."

"I told you. I'm not hungry. You may have it back."

"No, I couldn't. I never see you eat, even though we have a lunch break. Don't you ever get hungry?"

"Please. Hunger is a human weakness."

"Human weakness?" The girl frowned, but just then the teacher walked in the room and class resumed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SESSHOMARU!" I heard someone yell and I looked up from my car. Actually, it was my limo. My car was in the shop, so I was having Jaken pick me up until it was repaired, since I was no licensed to drive the limo. The girl from my class was running towards me. "Sesshomaru! You waited!"

I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

"Please, I'm very sorry. I found one of your papers on the floor and I was just going to keep it until next class, but, well, I was wondering…"

"Spit it out, girl! Lord Sesshomaru is too busy for your prattle!" Jaken shouted from his seat.

"Eh? Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Could you please get to your point? I _do_ need to get to a meeting."

"Oh, sorry. Uh, I was wondering if… youwouldtutorme!"

"I'm sorry?"

"Tutor me! You're getting the highest grade in the class, and I'm lost! I'll pay you! I'll…" The girl stopped, because I was looking at Jaken.

"Can you make cookies?" I asked, making up my mind.

"Uh. Yes. I think I can make some without burning them."

"Good. Come to my house tomorrow and we'll talk about a deal."

"Where do you live?" The girl asked. I reached into my wallet and pulled out a business card, one specially edited for human eyes. I pulled out a pen and scribbled my address and cell phone number on the back.

"Can you find this place?"

"I'll use Mapquest." The girl smiled, taking my card. I nodded and climbed into the back of my limo. I closed the door and nodded for Jaken to leave.

"Lord Sesshomaru, is it wise? That girl is a human."

"Jaken, many things that are done in this world are not the wisest or best ideas in the world, and yet they are still done. Besides, a decent servant and chauffeur, you may be, but Martha Stewart, you are not" I replied, before looking out the window to show that our conversation was over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, same time next week." Rin smiled, as I walked her towards the door. We had been meeting for almost nine months now, even though our finance class had ended. While I had been taking the class as a diversion, Rin was actually studying for a degree, so she continued to take math class, something she was indeed horrible at. But after a year of tutoring her, I was starting to look forward to our meeting together. Once we had agreed to out 'two dozen cookies for one hour of tutoring' deal and I had learned Rin's name, we had gotten into a regular pattern. We would study and I would tutor her for an hour and then she would go down to my kitchen and bake cookies.

We usually talked during that time and it was what I most looked forward to. Sometimes we discussed world events and other times we would talk about personal things. It really just depended on our mood. It was amazing though. We both learned things about each other, sometimes things no one else knew! I learned that Rin really wanted to study history, but her parents would only pay for 'worthwhile' courses; Rin learned that I was a closet gamer. I learned that Rin had an extreme fear of large crowds; Rin learned that my brother was in a mental institution. I learned that Rin liked flowers; Rin learned that I hated my job. Rin even learned that my parents were dead and I learned that Rin was still a virgin. (I do _not_ know how that conversation came around.)

I stopped in front of the door and frowned. There had been something I had been meaning to do for a while. I kept putting it off, but I knew that I was just too scared to form the words. I hated being scared. Gathering my courage, I turned to face Rin.

"Rin?"

"Yes?"

"I… I was wondering."

"Yes?" Rin prompted when I didn't say anymore

"What are you doing after your class tomorrow?"

"Uh, nothing. Why?"

"Would you like to, uh, see a movie with me?" I mumbled, trying not to blush or show how nervous I was.

"Sure! I'd love to!"

"Really? Well, I'll pick you up after class then."

"Great." Rin smiled as I opened the door. "See you then."

Waving as she got into her car, Rin shifted to reverse and pulled away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Excuse me?" I asked one of the girls in Rin's class. She looked up at me and blushed, causing her friends to giggle like school children.

"Yes?"

"Have you seen Rin today?" I asked. "I didn't see her leave your class. Is she ill?"

I honestly didn't think that was the answer. My nose would have spotted it yesterday if that was the cause, but she had seemed all right.

"Rin? Who's Rin?" The girl asked, clearly confused.

"She has short brown hair and is rather short. She looks really young."

"Oh, you mean the crazy one? No. I can't tell you anything about her. Sorry."

"Never mind." I sighed. I was beginning to get worried. We'd been dating for almost half a year and this had never happened before. Rin had my cell phone number and she was really good about calling if anything came up. Why wouldn't she show up for class? Was she in trouble? My cell phone rang and I looked down at it. It was a text message.

'S. I have Rin. Find her if you can. N.' I read. 

'WHAT THE FUCK! WHO DOES THIS MANGY ASSHOLE THINK HE IS?! I'LL RIP OUT HIS THROAT!! I'M GOING TO EVICERATE HIM, CASTRATE HIM AND THEN MAKE HIM EAT HIS OWN ORGANS! I'M GOING TO…......'

"Excuse me?" A woman asked from behind me and I turned around to look at her. One sniff told me she was a wind youkai and that she was extremely nervous about something. "You're Lord Sesshomaru, correct?"

"Who are you?" I spat, still angry with the unknown kidnapper of Rin.

"Names aren't important to people like me. Hell, I forget my own name sometimes." The woman laughed bitterly, as she took a cautious step forward. "I would like to offer you a deal."

"What?"

"If you will assure me amnesty for the duration of this meeting, I will give you some information."

"Speak or I will rip out your tongue, demon."

"All right, I'll take that as an agreement. If you would happen to be looking for that girl of yours, I would suggest you go to the red light sector and look for a dealer named Naraku."

"A dealer in what?" I asked, as the woman turned to leave.

"Everything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wandered over to the house. It was rather large and obviously out-of-place for the area. It was nice and kept up, in an area where desolation and dilapidated buildings filled the landscape. However, this building was a mansion. It was four above ground floors and large windows, which were washed and whole. I took a step onto the grounds and stopped, listening for an alarm or shouts from guards. There was nothing. I continued, my ears and senses alert for danger. I considered knocking on the front door but decided against it, and kicked the door open before striding in and slamming the door shut.

Still nothing. I looked around the long hallway and found that the walls were made of floor to ceiling mirrors. I looked at my reflection and paled. I could see my facial tattoos and my tail was now visible.

'There must be wards around the door. Good ones too. I didn't even feel the illusion fall.'

Gathering my composure, I walked down the hall towards the spiral staircase. I sniffed twice and frowned. There was no way to tell if Rin was in the house. There were too many over lying scents. Sweat, the personal odors of at least ten different people, drugs, alcohol, hormones, even fear and the scent of sex lingered in the air, intermingling with each other and coating the building. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. I would have to listen for signs of life. I waited a few minutes and finally I heard the sounds of a muffled argument.

'Upstairs. To my left.' I decided before running up the stairs three at a time. When I finally found to room, the argument was still commencing, though it seemed to be a tirade complete with abuse. I pressed my ear to the door and listened.

"YOU WHORE! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME?! YOU'LL PAY, I SWEAR!"

"Kohaku." I heard another muffled whisper, coming from another room. "We should do something! We can't let him continue! He'll kill her!"

"What can we do? It is suicide to oppose Naraku."

I grinned fiercely and nodded to myself. Naraku was the attacker. Opening the door, I walked into the room in time to see the woman from early being thrown into a corner by another man.

"Naraku, I presume."

"Sesshomaru."

"Return Rin to me and leave your bitch alone."

"I'm afraid that cannot be done." Naraku smirked. "But I'm willing to make a deal."

"I detest scum like you. You should feel honored I am even acknowledging your presence." I sneered, before I lunged forward and smashed my fist into his nose, breaking it soundly. I rammed my fist into his stomach and used my claws to slice at his arm when he punched me in the eye. Glaring, I pushed him to the floor and ground the heel of my shoe into his broken nose, taking a cruel sort of glee from the sound it made.

Backing away from the beaten man I spat at him in disgust.

"The fight is mine. Return Rin to me and I will let you live." I snarled, before noticing that my opponent was unconscious. "Worthless."

"Sesshomaru?" I heard Rin's voice asked and I turned to see her standing in the doorway staring at me. There was a young human boy standing behind her, but he soon ran behind me to take care of the wind demon. "Is that you?"

"It's… me."

"You look different. Why are you wearing tattoos? And that is that fluffy… pelt hangin over your shoulder?"

"It's a very long story, Rin. Perhaps… tonight. Are you busy tonight?"

"No."

"Then come over then and I will explain everything." I sighed, as I took a step towards her. "I'm sorry… about all this."

"I wasn't hurt. Kohaku and Kagura took care of me." Rin smiled.

"I'm glad. Let's go home Rin." I sighed and Rin nodded. I slowly walked closer to her. I wasn't sure how she was taking my demon form and I didn't want to scare her.

"Lord… Sesshomaru." I heard the wind demon speak. I turned to look at her and noticed that the boy was having to help her stand. "Thank you. You saved my life."

"I did nothing for you." I sniffed with disdain. The wind demon reached up to her face and wiped the drop of blood that was running from her mouth.

"I… I would request a meeting with you, Lord Sesshomaru. I am indebted to you, and perhaps we could… discover a way to repay my debt."

"I am also in your debt." The boy sighed.

"Both of you are stupid, but if your pride persists, I am sure you will be able to find me, Wind demon. Perhaps your… companion will decide to tag along." I relented with a sigh. "Come on, Rin. I'll take you home."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I glared at the two mugs in front of me and tried to remember how to make tea. I had never actually made the drink in my life and the only reason I had the 'tea bags' was because Rin had brought some over when she had learned that I had never tasted the drink.

"Sesshomaru?" Rin asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Fine." I muttered, as I thought about ripping the bag open. People read tea leaves right? So how can you read them if they're in a bag?

"Is the tea ready?" Rin asked, walking over to me. "Uh, don't you know how to make tea? No? Well here, let me show you."

"Rin." I growled softly. "How long have we known each other?"

"Oh, about three years now. Maybe a bit more or less." Rin smiled as she kept making the tea.

"And how long have we been dating?" I asked as I stepped out of the way and slipped my hand into my pocket.

"For over two years now."

"And you know… about my family."

"Your parents are dead?"

"And my brother is in an institution for the insane. And you know why he is there, which means that you know what I am. And if you know what I am, you must also know my position in the Youkai world." I sighed, speaking to her, but mostly for my own benefit.

"Yes, I know that you are a lord and leader among the Youkai world. Sesshomaru, what's the matter?" Rin asked as she turned to look at me in confusion.

"You know do know that I love you… right?" I asked hesitantly, trying to get up enough nerve for the next step. 

I knew I was stalling, but I couldn't help it. It's like jumping over a cliff. Your rational mind always looks the cliff and the fall _very_ carefully before you jump.

"What are you getting at?" Rin asked, and I could sense her growing nervousness. Pressing her lips together, Rin turned back to the tea and we stood in silence for a moment, lost in our own worries and thoughts.

"I… I just…" I began before I sighed and lowered my head. Shaking my head at my own spinelessness, I pulled the box out of my pocket and put it down on the counter. "Happy birthday"

Pushing away from the counter, I quickly hurried out of the room as I tried to calm my stomach enough that I wouldn't throw up.

'OH MY GOD! WHAT DID I DO?!' I mentally screamed at myself, as I walked into the bathroom and splashed water onto my face. 'I am such a fuck up! I screwed the entire proposal up! It wasn't supposed to go like that! All that research for nothing! Women like flowers, candlelight, and romance! I didn't even officially _ask_ her to marry me! Stupid. Stupid! _Stupid_! And now she's really going to say no. Why would she want to marry a gutless ass like me?!'

Quietly ripping my hair out in half-panic, half-sorrow, I sat down on the side of the bathtub and pressed my forehead against my knees. I could hear Rin walking down the hall towards the front doorway and I shut down my Youkai hearing.

'That's it. She's leaving.' I sighed in despair. Just as I was about to cry, I hear a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, as the door creaked open. I had completely missed her approach.

"Rin?" I asked, as I looked up. I silently prayed, for the sake of my pride, that my eyes weren't red or something equally embarrassing.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Rin asked, holding the engagement out for me to see.

'YES! EXCELLENT! I have a chance to redeem myself!' I silently cheered.

Pulling her down to sit on the side of the tub with me, I took her hand in my own.

"Uh…" I began.

'Dumbass points: plus ten.' A nasty voice in the back of my head laughed.

'Shut the hell up.' I mentally muttered in response.

"Will you… oh, hell. Marry me, Rin?" I asked. This romance thing was not me. I didn't understand any of it. It was better to just act in a straightforward manner. I swallowed as Rin's face remained blank. I watched as her face began to fall and tears began to stream down her face. "You… don't have to, you know."

"OH GOD! I love you sooooo much, Sessh!" Rin screamed as she flung herself into my arms. Losing my balance, I fell backwards. I looked up at Rin's crying face and realized that we were now lying in the bathtub. Not the most innocent of positions, let me tell you. Wrapping my hand around the base of her neck, I pulled Rin's face closer and kissed her.

"Is that a yes?" I asked when we finally broke apart Laughing, Rin kissed me again.

"Yes, I'll marry you." Rin grinned, wiping the tears off her face. "What took you so long?"

"I have no idea." I admitted.


End file.
